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IntercomProblem & solution
Need for speed: how to address leads faster with live chat - The Intercom Blog
Summary
A Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads found that responding within an hour makes a deal seven times more likely to close than a two-hour response. Live chat on a website is the fastest way to achieve that speed, bypassing the delays of contact forms and email follow-ups. The first tactic is to offer live chat only to prospects matching an ideal customer profile, using tools like Clearbit to filter visitors so SDRs focus on qualified leads. The second is to combine a bot for collecting contact information with human sales development representatives for personalized conversations, avoiding over-automation that annoys prospects. The third is to set proper expectations by stating office hours, displaying average response times when unavailable, and hiding the chat outside business hours, which allows reps to be more thoughtful in their responses.
Context
A Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads found that responding within an hour increases win probability sevenfold compared to a two-hour response. Contact forms and email follow-ups cause delays of days or weeks. Live chat enables instant response but is often misused by showing it to all visitors or relying too heavily on automation without human touch.
Approach / What changed
Use live chat on the website to respond to leads within an hour. Implement three tactics: (1) show the chat only to visitors matching an ideal customer profile using data enrichment tools like Clearbit; (2) use a bot for collecting contact information and route chats to human SDRs for relationship building; (3) set expectations by stating office hours, displaying average response times when unavailable, and hiding the chat outside business hours.
Takeaways
Responding to a sales lead within one hour increases the likelihood of winning the deal by 7x compared to a two-hour response.
Offering live chat to every site visitor is inefficient; targeting ideal customer profile leads using data enrichment tools keeps SDRs focused on qualified prospects.
Balancing a chatbot for information collection with human SDRs for relationship building prevents the frustration of over-automation and maintains personal connection.
FAQ
How much does response time affect deal conversion?
A Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads found that responding to a lead within one hour makes a deal seven times more likely to close than responding within two hours.
How can I avoid wasting live chat on unqualified leads?
Use tools like Clearbit to filter visitors and show live chat only to those matching your ideal customer profile. This ensures SDRs focus on qualified prospects and remain motivated by a constant flow of high-quality leads.
Should I use a chatbot or a human in live chat?
Use a bot for low-value tasks like collecting contact information, but have human SDRs handle the actual conversation and relationship building. Avoid prolonged chatbot interactions that frustrate prospects who expect to talk to a person.
Source and freshness
- Source
- intercom.com
- Published
- Added to Yomu
Summaries are generated from the original by a language model. Check the original before relying on it.
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